Showing results by publisher "Tantor Audio" in First Contact

In the collection's title story, Frederick Gray is closing in on seventy and has outlived his usefulness as a professor of law. He has no family; his best friend, fellow faculty member Ben Lovell, has recently died. Before Gray moves into a retirement home, he takes a final canoe trip to a favorite fishing spot he and Lovell had visited many times, only to find that someone has built a house on the remote riverside. When an accident leaves Gray stranded and in pain, he returns to the shelter seeking aid and instead finds a new reason for living.

The aliens didn't conquer Earth. They negotiated exclusive streaming rights instead. Unbeknownst to humanity, the powerful Voltaxians controlled the galaxy, their vast empire fueled by their monopoly on mana. Humanity feared invasion, only to find out the godlike aliens had something far different in mind. The Voltaxians offered a simple deal. Allow them to set up dungeons controlled by living intelligent dungeon cores on Earth to generate mana, and they'd share the wealth.

At the start of the 22nd century, the starship Acheron is in orbit around WISE 5571, only, unbeknownst to the crew, the ship has been overrun by telepathic extraterrestrials. How do you fight an enemy that distorts everything you see? What do you do when you can't trust your own senses, let alone anyone around you?

By the time Grey had come back with an army of new allies, the Legion had been defeated. Many an Incarnator had fallen as heroes, leaving the City on the brink of destruction. Thousands of souls still trapped inside the Cube are trying to break free from their extradimensional prison while the Star watches impassively from its celestial heights.

The alien crashed into Earth without anyone knowing. She escaped her ship without being caught. Escape isn't enough, though. Morena wants to conquer Earth. It's the only chance for the survival of her entire species. Now, Morena is taking over a small town in Georgia, possessing those she comes in contact with and readying the birth of her alien kind.

I was abducted by aliens. The aliens that I've been auctioned to don't speak my language, and I definitely can't speak theirs. I didn't expect to get married by accident to the sweet one. I didn't expect to have a grumpy alien bond to me and go a little crazy if other males get near me, or if I try to leave. It doesn't matter if they've won my heart. I can't stay.

In this thrilling conclusion to the breakout military science fiction series, we find Earth plagued with millions of miles of terraformed cities, black vines crushing concrete, revealing iron and steel. Those unable to escape the vines are empty vessels waiting to be filled, living storage for alien algorithmic thought. What else can happen? What more can be done? This has always been a time for heroes, for killers, for Grunts, but are they enough?

Contrary to the odds, he was a survivor. But it wasn't over, no matter what anyone said. The deadly, shadowy entity he was up against was doing everything to execute its evil scheme and take out anything in its way. It had at its disposal the latest technology, professional killers, and high-ranking patrons. And Clem Denisov, inveterate angel of retribution, wasn't going to put up with it. Clem's one saving grace was his ability to send sinners to hell—a place he knew only too well. And he wouldn't rest until the last of the killers targeting the players received his just dues.

Welcome to Cachalot, a planet made almost entirely of water, an ocean refuge for Earth's marine mammals, rescued from near extinction at the hands of humans thousands of years ago. Free from predators and human impact, the whales thrive in their new home, growing in size and intelligence. Everything is perfect. Until humans decide to establish floating towns on Cachalot, drawn by the planet's abundant natural resources.

Today was the Erodicilee's happiest day-until it wasn't. A cruel monster interrupted his trip, stole his mother and fled, but thankfully, he was born for such an occasion. For him, eating creatures will allow him to evolve new abilities to grow strong enough and find the one he loves!

Nothing in Kalinda's plans includes crash-landing on a backwards sand planet full of lizard-aliens. But when she spots Warlord Nakan, she's willing to take a little detour. He's a sexy, muscular scaled creature that she wouldn't mind...studying. But no matter how interested she is, and no matter how much he lights her up inside, she's determined to get off his godforsaken planet.

The odds are stacked against Lyla Richards as the final battle looms. The Naku underestimated her before, they won't do that again. They will throw everything in their power at her to keep her from retrieving Miles. But they don't understand human emotions. They don't understand a mother's love and how far she will go to get her son back. And as one last secret is exposed, Lyla will have to choose humanity's fate. Because her decision can lead humanity to their ultimate success...or their complete domination.

The only way I've been surviving through the chronic pain of my mutation is the drug, Kixx. I hate what the addiction has done to me, but what I resent the most is that I've had to barter with a lowlife Rogastix for my supply. One day, he shows off his new property-a human female. He makes me a deal to protect her until he can exchange her for a healthy supply of Kixx of which I'll get a lion's share.

The invasion has begun. On the capital world of Vassar-1, the Allied Independent Colonies find themselves in a race against time to stop a terrorist plot that could bring chaos to the galaxy. As the terror spreads, Earth provides nothing but deception and subterfuge. With time running out, it's up to Ben and Ada to deliver an AIC agent with vital information. But not everything is what it seems.

Agetha has survived many more battles than she anticipated when she first landed on her new home planet. She's older and wiser, has gained family and lost loved ones. And yet her reward for four decades of service is to be pushed to the colony's outer edges with the other aging Generationals. But that was only the beginning of her adventure.

The story of the Klin comes full circle. After failing to conquer the Expansion—again—the aliens set their sights once again on Earth and the human race. This time, they're bringing their deadly subcutaneous microchips to get the race to do their bidding. But when things go horribly wrong, the Klin have to look at alternatives. When Adam Cain and Copernicus Smith inadvertently discover the Klin's sinister plot on Earth, they're shocked to find that the truth is hard to believe. And now our reluctant heroes must find the Klin surrogates and prevent the takeover.

The Val'ayash invasion of Earth had been defeated. New deals were reached with both the Qash'vo'tar and the Zhal Confederation. But Earth has one advantage that no one in their universe knows about. The portal to Ethorria.

Humanity fought and won its freedom by establishing a fragile peace with the two great powers-the Qash'vo'tar and the Zhal Confederation—by bringing them proof that their ancient enemy, the Val'ayash, survived the great war. But despite that, Earth is still a minor player in a wider galaxy, with only one advantage. Magic. Two years after Earth won its freedom, the tensions between the three star nations are rising. And United Terran Systems council knows that it is only a matter of time before the two great powers pressure humanity for the secrets of their magi-tech.

Sixty-seven years ago the Qash'vo'tar conquered Earth. Ever since then, the aliens had ruled from above. The Qash'vo'tar did not care what humanity did on the ground, as long as they didn't attempt to build anything that could get them to the stars. And now, sixty-seven years after they had been conquered, it was time for humanity to show the Qash'vo'tar that they had been right to fear humanity.

Peacemakers. The Galactic Union's most capable enforcers and resolute negotiators, their name alone elicits fear and awe among the Union's citizenry. In the entire history of the Galactic Union, Hr'ent Golramm would be only the seventh member of the Oogar race to earn a Peacemaker badge. But becoming a Peacemaker doesn't seem to be his destiny. He's not even sure he wants to be one. Deputy Selector Hak-Chet, on the other hand, has even bigger plans for the monstrous, young Oogar.